7i8 



THE NATURE BOOK 



Rush {Juncits squarrosus). Adapted to 

 drier regions than others of the family, its 

 characteristics inchne towards those of the 

 Grasses. The leaves are all radical, sa\'e 

 for a bract leaf on the flowering stems 

 in some instances, and spread in tufts 

 laterally ; they are of nar- 

 row grooved shape, stiff in 

 character, and not more 

 than half the length of the 

 stems. The flowers are con- 

 tained in a terminal panicle 

 that is little branched. The 

 perianth segments are of 

 a glossy brown colour and 

 broad in form, as seen in 

 the illustration, enclosing 

 the seeded fruit of the two 

 principal stems. At tlie 

 top spikelet of the taller 

 stem we see tlie style of 

 the carpels still adhering, 

 the extremity being a three- 

 forked arrangement of 

 slender threads. The species 

 is quite abundant over 

 Britain on moors and 

 heaths ; the rigid stems are 

 under one foot in height. 



A departure from type- 

 form is e\'en more marked 

 in the Great Wood Rush 

 {Luztila sylvatica), for here 

 the generic name has been 

 shifted to meet the re- 

 quirements of the plant's 

 specialisation. There is 

 much difference in the soft 

 fiat leaves that approach 

 those of the Grasses, and 

 are covered thinly with 

 white hairs. Another dis- 

 tinctive character is the one- 

 celled capsule, which contains but three 

 seeds, larger than most of tlie species. 

 It prefers dry situations — woods or pas- 

 tures that are well drained or stand 

 at an elevation ; the height varies from 

 one and a half to two feet, the leaves 

 being rather less. The flowers are ex- 

 pressed in little clusters of two or three 

 in a large, loose panicle. 



One of the Rushes associated with the 

 damp regions that has some superficial 

 resemblance to this form of panicle is the 

 Jointed Rush {J uncus lamprocarpus). A 



BLACK BOG RUSH. 



slender compressed stem bears the panicle, 

 that is leafy to some extent. The pecuhar 

 formation of the radical leaves gives the 

 name to this species ; they are first 

 sheath-like upon the stem, but after- 

 wards cylindrical and hollow, divided 

 interiorly by cross segments 

 of pith, which mark such 

 divisions clearly in the dry 

 state, and give the appear- 

 ance of articulated joints. 

 The flowers are in small 

 clusters— from three or four 

 to as many as ten — ar- 

 ranged in compound terminal 

 panicles. The perianth seg- 

 ments are about the size of 

 the Common Rush ; the cap- 

 sule more or less pointed. 

 It is an exceedingly variable 

 species in habit and size, 

 but always to be distin- 

 guished by the jointed leaves. 

 I have found it on damp 

 commons in both its ex- 

 treme measurements, viz. in 

 rich soil, from two to three 

 feet, with panicles five or 

 six inches diameter ; and also 

 in its diminutive form of 

 a few inches only, when the 

 panicles are less complex 

 and of a much darker brown 

 colour. It will also spread 

 over water, rooting at the 

 joints, which appear to be 

 centres for possibilities of 

 varying requirement. 



I have used some latitude 

 in placing the Black Bog 

 Rush (Schcrniis nigricans) 

 with this selection of plants, 

 since it is not a Rush from 

 a botanical standpoint, but a Sedge. It 

 is, however, so rush-like in general ap- 

 pearance, more nearly approaching type- 

 form even than the Wood Rush, that 

 it appeared to me the more interesting 

 to show the plant as a rush-like Sedge 

 among Rushes, than in its own class. 

 But let it not be forgotten that the fruit 

 is the single nut-like seed that separates 

 once from the Rush family, 

 rounded spike of glumes 

 a dark reddish brown or 

 composed of three or four 



the plant at 

 The small 

 is variably 

 black-brown, 



